


Folly

by SummerLeighWind



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Brothers, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Child Death, Childhood, Childhood Trauma, Children, Death, Gen, Pre-Series, Tree Climbing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2014-09-26
Packaged: 2018-02-18 21:44:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2363174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerLeighWind/pseuds/SummerLeighWind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A common childhood moment ends tragically for one Sirius Black.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Folly

The three of them had just been outside, playing in the garden as they so often did. Isla sat on the little marble bench kept beside the roses; her hands in her lap and her complexion clear and eyes attentive to their activity. She, at nine, was too old for children's games; but she enjoyed the sun and fresh air just as much as her brothers and so often accompanied them out to watch as they tossed their toy ball around and ran about yelling like little savages instead of little gentlemen.

If their mother was not so busy with Elladora inside their home she would have scolded them all. Isla for not disapproving, Sirius for setting a bad example for Phineas and Phineas for getting his knees dirty with dirt and grass stains.

But she wasn't, so instead Isla smiled at them kindly and watched the boys as they threw their ball higher and higher, and higher - the toy brushing the branches of the tree canopies above. After sometime, the ball got caught in the leaves and branches, causing little Phineas to stamp his foot and cry "My ball!"

A grin on his face, Sirius leaned over and hooked his brother with his arm and said "Do not worry Phineas! I will get it down for us!"

"How so, brother?" Isla inquired, her voice sharp.

He waved a hand. "Do not worry sister! I shall just climb up and shake the branches!"

"Please, Sirius, do not do it!" Isla fretted as she rose up from her bench. "The trees are tall, but thin and you will fall! Just let me get mother-"

"No!" The boy snapped, "She will only tell us it serves us right for it to have gotten stuck and make us come in for tea!"

Isla thinned her lips. "What is wrong with that, Sirius? If she does not get it down now, father will do it when he returns home from the office!"

Phineas, six and just a tad too young to follow such complexities, questioned his siblings; "Sirius is not getting my ball?"

"-Yes-"

"-No-"

They gave their answer with such willfulness, both believing they were right. But after a fierce glaring contest, Sirius ran to the tree, already pulling himself up the slender body of the tree.

Rushing forward, Isla gave her brother's dangling foot a tug. "Sirius!" She scolded. "Stop this instance!"

But he didn't and yelled back, "Make me!"

No matter how she may have wanted to, Isla's age and dress kept her firmly on the ground. "Please Sirius!" She begged as Sirius leaned forward to get a hold on a branch to pull himself higher. "Come down!" She shouted.

But her brother did not listen to her and instead called to his younger brother, "Phineas, get beneath the ball would you? That way when if falls you can catch it!"

"Okay!" He happily agreed, scampering to the spot with his arms stretched up and mouth pulled in a closed-lip smile.

Wobbling a bit, Sirius pushed to snag the branch he and his brother's ball rested on. "Just a little-" he muttered to himself as his fingers barely brushed the base of the branch. He looked up and then down, seemingly considering if he should go higher or go down altogether.

Twisting her fingers, Isla pleaded with the boy "Come down! I will go in and take mother's wand so we can levitate it down! Please Sirius,  _please_!"

The boy, so very high up, just shook his head and flashed a determined grimace. "No!" He snapped, "I am here and I am going to do it!" Letting go of the branch with one hand, he propelled himself out; fingers just grazing the underside of the ball when-

"SIRIUS!"

The boy gave a short cry, but he was tumbling too fast, hands waving and eyes bulging and then there were a series of cracks. On the grassy ground, lay the crumpled body of a boy; a smaller one splattered in blood with dark eyes impossibly wide.

Rushing forward, Isla touched Sirius. "S-Sirius!" She sobbed.

He did not move, his eyes open and gazing skyward.

Taking off her shawl, the girl covered her brother's face with it and began to weep as Phineas stayed standing, motionless and silent.

"G-Go get-t M-M-M-Mother!" The sister hiccuped to the boy as she worked at rearranging her younger brother so he did not look so much like a broken plaything.

The little boy did nothing.

" _Phineas!"_ She shrieked at him. When he failed to respond even to that, she lifted her gaze up to see that her brother was unnaturally still. It was as if he was under an immobulus charm.

Getting up, she paid the fact her fingers were now coated in blood little mind as she gave the boy a shake. "Phineas?" She whispered as he moved along with the motion, but nothing else. Biting her lip, she took his hand and lead him to the bench she previously occupied and pushed him down.

"Stay there," she ordered before running to their home.

A few minutes later, screeching came from inside and then their mother was beneath the trees ripping back the shawl Phineas's sister had so kindly laid over their brother's face.

She covered her eyes and began to bawl.

Shortly, Isla returned and put a hand on Phineas's shoulder.

He reached up and touched it as their mother wailed over the body of her first-born and their brother.

Nothing would be the same.

It had been folly on Sirius's part to think a tree so slim could support his growing weight and now he'd paid for it with the most precious commodity of all:

_Life._

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and let me know what you think with a comment/kudo!


End file.
